Intelligence Squared Debate: Free Speech Is Threatened on Campus

Yale was a particularly apt venue for this debate. Yale has a proud tradition of freedom of speech, and its official statement on free speech, the 'Woodward Report' of 1974, is one of the strongest defenses of free speech in the academy. But the infamous controversy of this past Halloween, and the way that Yale handled the controversy, have led many to doubt Yale's current commitment to free speech. This year, Yale only narrowly avoided ranking among the 10 worst colleges in the United States for free speech, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). So this debate was particularly timely, and it clearly struck a nerve at Yale.